Welcome to the Skull Session.
.Do you believe in miracles?
Noah Brown for the win! pic.twitter.com/x1mcOAbtwm
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 27, 2024
Have a good Monday.
PICKING UP THE PIECES. Even the glass-half-full, level-headed fans anticipated Ohio State’s offensive line to have some issues after Josh Simmons suffered a season-ending injury against Oregon. But no one could have expected what we witnessed on Saturday.
(Before I dive into the section that will discuss Zen Michalski’s performance at length, I want to make this point clear: I will critique Michalski, the football player – not Michalski, the person. Yes, he attends Ohio State. Yes, he should be held to a high standard. But that does not mean he deserves to be tarred and feathered for his performance on Saturday. Criticism is appropriate; ridicule is not.)
Michalski failed as a pass blocker and run blocker. He was far worse in the former than the latter, allowing four pressures, two hurries and two sacks in 21 pass-blocking snaps — good for a 14.2 grade from Pro Football Focus. That number ranked dead last among Ohio State’s starters, following Josh Fryar (77.7), Donovan Jackson (75), Seth McLaughlin (68.8) and Tegra Tshabola (36.3).
As Michalski’s pressures, hurries and sacks mounted, so did Ohio State’s misfortunes on offense. One of Michalski’s whiffs led to a Howard fumble (that Jackson recovered). Another led to a Howard interception in which the quarterback rushed a deep ball to Emeka Egbuka as he felt the heat from Michalski’s assignment, Nebraska linebacker MJ Sherman.
While Michalski’s blunders were plentiful – he was also knocked on his rear end several times as a result of poor balance and footwork – he was not alone in that regard. Really, the entire line failed to perform on Saturday. Look no further than Ohio State’s run game for evidence. The Buckeyes, who have the best running back duo in college football with Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, were held to 64 yards on 31 carries, including 29 yards on 10 carries for Judkins and 25 yards on 10 carries for Henderson.
Unable to run the ball and often behind schedule because of the offensive line’s poor execution, Ohio State converted one of 10 third-down conversion attempts and one of two fourth-down conversion attempts. Ryan Day mentioned both of those stats in his postgame press conference while calling the offensive line’s performance “not good enough” for the team to accomplish all it wants to accomplish this season.
While the offensive linemen should be held accountable for their efforts, I don’t think Day and Justin Frye should be let off scot-free, either.
After the Cotton Bowl, fans pleaded for Ohio State to add an offensive tackle from the transfer portal. For whatever reason, the Buckeyes balked at the idea. This offseason, Day and Frye’s spin was that Simmons, Fryar, Michalski and George Fitzpatrick had developed well. That was true of Simmons (whom Dane Brugler had marked as a potential first-round draft pick after the first six weeks of the 2024 season), but I’m not sure if it was true of the others. Fryar has still been inconsistent, Michalski looked unprepared (in a small sample size) and Fitzpatrick hasn’t seen the field for meaningful snaps.
That could leave Ohio State with a future where Jackson, a two-time first-team All-Big Ten guard, starts at left tackle; Tshabola, a first-year starter at right guard, starts at left guard; and Siereveld, a reserve offensive lineman with some (read: little) experience, starts at right guard.
If that’s not the solution for Ohio State – and we will learn as soon as Saturday against defensive end Abdul Carter and Penn State – Day and Frye’s decision not to add a transfer tackle could undermine all the Buckeyes set out to accomplish this season.
And man, that would be one hard pill to swallow.
PRESSURE! Over 600 words later, let’s talk about stuff I liked from Saturday. There wasn’t much, but there was enough to fill three sections in the Skull Session, so I’ll go Rapid Fire Mode (which, for me, means around 250 words) and move on to Tuesday.
Ohio State’s defense had zero sacks and two tackles for loss in their one-point defeat at Oregon. Two weeks later, the Buckeyes had three sacks and 13 tackles for loss (!) in their four-point win over Nebraska. The latter number was the most from an Ohio State defense since it recorded 15 against Indiana in 2021.
JT Tuimoloau, Tyleik Williams and Ty Hamilton were responsible for Ohio State’s three sacks of Dylan Raiola – who, ICYMI, had some words for fans who tossed water bottles onto the field following Arvell Reese’s targeting call – and combined for five tackles for loss. The other eight takedowns behind the line of scrimmage came from Cody Simon (three), Denzel Burke (two), Caleb Downs (one), Davison Igbinosun (one) and the combination of Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Jermaine Mathews Jr.
Davison Igbinosun pic.twitter.com/ooOy4xDDUO
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
Of all those tackles for loss, none were more important than the two Simon made on the Cornhuskers’ final drive of the game. Following an offensive pass interference call on Nebraska wide receiver Jahmal Banks, the aforementioned targeting call on Reese and a false start call on Nebraska offensive lineman Justin Evans, Simon bulldozed running back Emmett Johnson for a 3-yard loss. On the next snap, he demolished Johnson (poor Johnson) for a 1-yard loss. Simon’s excellence set up a Nebraska 3rd-and-19, which led to Jordan Hancock’s game-sealing interception.
JORDAN HANCOCK pic.twitter.com/fvmJRFzjPa
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
All in all, it was great to see Ohio State generate pressure from different looks, get to the quarterback and keep Nebraska’s offense off schedule on offense. The Buckeyes will be hard-pressed to replicate that success against third-ranked Penn State this weekend, but it’s an encouragement nonetheless!
NO POWER LIKE STAR POWER. While Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka often overshadow Carnell Tate, the sophomore receiver reminded the college football world of his immense talent with a four-catch, 102-yard, one-touchdown performance on Saturday.
Tate’s touchdown, his second of the season, came with 29 seconds left in the opening frame when he and Will Howard connected on a 40-yard deep ball.
Will Howard Carnell Tate. pic.twitter.com/iuHHJsbjy1
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) October 26, 2024
Late in the second quarter, Tate hauled in a 17-yard toss from Howard that put Ohio State’s offense in field goal range. (Jayden Fielding missed the kick so far right that it made me understand Day’s decision to pass for chunk yards in the final drive of the Oregon game.)
His final impactful moment came in the fourth quarter. Wide open on the Ohio State sideline, Tate recorded a 37-yard reception that kickstarted what became the Buckeyes’ game-winning drive. The catch-and-run put Ohio State at the Nebraska 38, and seven snaps later, Howard found Judkins for a go-ahead, 9-yard touchdown with six minutes left in the contest.
Tate led Ohio State in receptions and yards in the win, as Smith had three catches for 70 yards and one touchdown, and Egbuka had three catches for 20 yards. While those three stat lines as a collection don’t indicate a successful passing performance for the Buckeyes (it wasn’t), it was still good to see Tate prove he set the pace in Brian Hartline’s receiver room when called upon and needed.
PROVE YOURSELF RIGHT. There’s still lots to address from the Nebraska game this week, but I would be remiss if I didn’t address Ohio State’s matchup with Penn State this weekend. I would also be remiss if I didn’t include Howard’s comment about the Nittany Lions during his postgame press conference.
“Stoked. Stoked. I cannot wait,” Howard said when asked about his excitement for the Penn State game.
Howard has said several times this season that he grew up a Big Ten and Penn State fan. The Downingtown, Pennsylvania, native revealed Saturday that the Nittany Lions “were up” in his recruitment until he suffered an injury as a high school junior. Howard would go on to play four seasons at Kansas State before transferring to Ohio State for 2024.
This weekend, he’ll lead the Buckeyes into Beaver Stadium for the team’s second top-five matchup of the season.
“It’s gonna be a homecoming for me,” he said. “I grew up a Penn State fan. I wanted to go there my whole life. They didn’t think I was good enough. I guess we’ll see next week if I was.”
A word of advice for Howard, via former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud: Don’t prove them wrong; prove yourself right.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Carmen Ohio" - TBDBITL.
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